Anything Goes

The SS American has sailed away with Cole Porter’s Anything Goes!

You either made the ship’s departure with Hope Harcourt, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, Stowaway Billy Crocker, Evangelist Reno Sweeney and her Angels, Public Enemy Number 13, Erma, the Reverend and a cast of other passengers – or you didn’t. These unlikely shipmates went from a mixture of old classmates and new faces to a polished musical in about twenty short days during the 2014 Blake High School Summer Musical Theatre Institute under the direction of Mr. Michael D’ Anna, assisted by technical director John Ovington, renowned actor Harry A. Winter, musical director Rachael Lader and choreographer Michelle Carter.

The cast got a taste of not only acting, singing and dancing (some learned to tap in under three weeks..), but set design, construction and painting, makeup, sound, lighting and the other aspects of theatre. Consider the Institute next summer even if you missed the boat this year! Visit Blake Stage Company’s home online for more details about plays throughout the year and next summer’s Institute.

Here is a collection of photos of what happened onstage from Bon Voyage through the surprise finale. Do yourself a favor and find a real display on which to look at these after you’ve gone through them on your phone! You cast members will recognize that as the large TV-like thing attached to the computer your parents use…

You should find plenty of celebrity photos of yourself or your actor or actress from Thursday and Friday shows. Saturday’s photos are offline right now but bear with me and they’ll appear. I’ll go through my rehearsal photos to look for any crucial moments I missed here, but show photos have the advantage of a complete set and that extra punch that comes from playing to a live audience. Sure, there are way more than enough Friday scenes, but I hope you’ll enjoy piecing the story back together from the hundreds of points in time. Double-cast leads from Thursday – stand by for more as I have time, but I’ve captured you at the peaks of your glories in what’s online now.